In this Dior show, do not look in the mirrors

Although performed in a place empty of ordinary audience, Dior's Fall-Winter 2021/2022 collection was presented in the most theatrical way possible. Designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, also launched from the pandemic, used the moment to use a place that might be suitable for a physical distance show, but could be used as a film set.

Dior created a dark tale in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

"This is an important place in French culture and we were all very happy that they agreed to support our creativity," she said in a conversation at Zoom before the show.

Mirrors have to do with deception and uncertainty, as well as with beauty and truth. "The mirror has to do with attraction, but also with disgust," said Maria, whose favorite tale, "Beauty and the Beast," which contains a mirror that allows Beauty to see the family she has left behind.

The designer collaborated with Italian artist Silvia Giambrone to place bronze mirrors where acacia thorns were placed threatening models passing nearby.

Dior describes the images shared on social media as "femininity behind the darkness of spacious halls and wooded gardens."